MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — A southern Oregon family has filed a $6 million federal lawsuit claiming the Phoenix-Talent School District hired and kept a teacher unsupervised despite past complaints about inappropriate conduct.
The Mail Tribune reports that an Orchard Hill Elementary School kindergarten student accused her teacher of sexually abusing her last year and making a “pinky promise” with her not to tell anybody.
The lawsuit filed last Friday in U.S. District Court names the teacher, George Kuhn, and includes school district Superintendent Ben Bergreen and school Principal Gerry Flock.
The girl was interviewed by police but Jackson County prosecutors decided not to charge Kuhn, citing inconsistencies in the girl’s account. Kuhn was fired in September 2009.
